Speaking of small towns

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

We had a journalist here from Economist magazine. He said his only comment was that we do not have a local paper for guests to read.
I explained to him WE DO but you weren't here the day it arrives via postal carrier (not every day). I asked if a day-old paper would be okay? He said yes, just something local to read. I get this, I like local news. That is what I enjoy when traveling watching local news on tv as well (even overseas).
I listen. I act.
I put our local paper out near the coffee area this morning (Monday's) that came in the mail - today is Tuesday.
Guests come down and I make sure their coffee is great and saw he had the paper. He said, and I quote "I found part of the paper, but where is the rest of it?"
I laugh, that IS the whole paper!
You can't win for losing.

 

[Don Draper]

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast, to the discomfort of the rest of the table...she was all full of suggestions as to how they could do it. Finally I had to remind her that it is not ME who controls public transportation!
Enjoy the country you are in and save your comparisons for the plane ride home. Also, it's driving on the "opposite" side of the road, NOT the "wrong" side of the road...not to her it wasn't!

 

[EmptyNest]

I know what you mean. Ours is a Wed paper and we get it in the mail on Thurs. On Wed. there are 4 folks on every corner of the main street in town hawking the papers. They hold up traffic, run over to the car and sell the paper. I think it is dangerous and wonder why the town permits it..but it has been done this way forever I guess.

 

[egoodell]

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast, to the discomfort of the rest of the table...she was all full of suggestions as to how they could do it. Finally I had to remind her that it is not ME who controls public transportation!
Enjoy the country you are in and save your comparisons for the plane ride home. Also, it's driving on the "opposite" side of the road, NOT the "wrong" side of the road...not to her it wasn't!.

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast

Didn't the British get voted the worst tourists in the world recently?
RIki

 

[Don Draper]

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast, to the discomfort of the rest of the table...she was all full of suggestions as to how they could do it. Finally I had to remind her that it is not ME who controls public transportation!
Enjoy the country you are in and save your comparisons for the plane ride home. Also, it's driving on the "opposite" side of the road, NOT the "wrong" side of the road...not to her it wasn't!.

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast

Didn't the British get voted the worst tourists in the world recently?
RIki
.

The Brits usually do ok by us, they are typically very interested in our history and as we are a historical site they usually love it. This particular set seemed to be suffering under the delusion the entire time they were here that we were a restaurant...when they called when they were already ONE HOUR late for check-in, she asked to make a dinner reservation. Then, the first morning Her Majesty sat down and pronounced "I believe I'll have two soft boiled eggs and toast this morning." Luckily I wasn't even out there, DH just simply said, "No, today we're serving quiche and muffins" and walked away. Blech. They were difficult the entire time they were here, nothing was good enough.

 

[egoodell]

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast, to the discomfort of the rest of the table...she was all full of suggestions as to how they could do it. Finally I had to remind her that it is not ME who controls public transportation!
Enjoy the country you are in and save your comparisons for the plane ride home. Also, it's driving on the "opposite" side of the road, NOT the "wrong" side of the road...not to her it wasn't!.

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast

Didn't the British get voted the worst tourists in the world recently?
RIki
.

The Brits usually do ok by us, they are typically very interested in our history and as we are a historical site they usually love it. This particular set seemed to be suffering under the delusion the entire time they were here that we were a restaurant...when they called when they were already ONE HOUR late for check-in, she asked to make a dinner reservation. Then, the first morning Her Majesty sat down and pronounced "I believe I'll have two soft boiled eggs and toast this morning." Luckily I wasn't even out there, DH just simply said, "No, today we're serving quiche and muffins" and walked away. Blech. They were difficult the entire time they were here, nothing was good enough.
.

The Brits usually do ok by us, they are typically very interested in our history and as we are a historical site they usually love it. This particular set seemed to be suffering under the delusion the entire time they were here that we were a restaurant...when they called when they were already ONE HOUR late for check-in, she asked to make a dinner reservation. Then, the first morning Her Majesty sat down and pronounced "I believe I'll have two soft boiled eggs and toast this morning." Luckily I wasn't even out there, DH just simply said, "No, today we're serving quiche and muffins" and walked away. Blech. They were difficult the entire time they were here, nothing was good enough.

When they are good they are really really great, but when they are bad they are terrible!!!
Riki

 

[Don Draper]

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast, to the discomfort of the rest of the table...she was all full of suggestions as to how they could do it. Finally I had to remind her that it is not ME who controls public transportation!
Enjoy the country you are in and save your comparisons for the plane ride home. Also, it's driving on the "opposite" side of the road, NOT the "wrong" side of the road...not to her it wasn't!.

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast

Didn't the British get voted the worst tourists in the world recently?
RIki
.

The Brits usually do ok by us, they are typically very interested in our history and as we are a historical site they usually love it. This particular set seemed to be suffering under the delusion the entire time they were here that we were a restaurant...when they called when they were already ONE HOUR late for check-in, she asked to make a dinner reservation. Then, the first morning Her Majesty sat down and pronounced "I believe I'll have two soft boiled eggs and toast this morning." Luckily I wasn't even out there, DH just simply said, "No, today we're serving quiche and muffins" and walked away. Blech. They were difficult the entire time they were here, nothing was good enough.
.

The Brits usually do ok by us, they are typically very interested in our history and as we are a historical site they usually love it. This particular set seemed to be suffering under the delusion the entire time they were here that we were a restaurant...when they called when they were already ONE HOUR late for check-in, she asked to make a dinner reservation. Then, the first morning Her Majesty sat down and pronounced "I believe I'll have two soft boiled eggs and toast this morning." Luckily I wasn't even out there, DH just simply said, "No, today we're serving quiche and muffins" and walked away. Blech. They were difficult the entire time they were here, nothing was good enough.

When they are good they are really really great, but when they are bad they are terrible!!!
Riki
.

Well said!

 

[Morticia]

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast, to the discomfort of the rest of the table...she was all full of suggestions as to how they could do it. Finally I had to remind her that it is not ME who controls public transportation!
Enjoy the country you are in and save your comparisons for the plane ride home. Also, it's driving on the "opposite" side of the road, NOT the "wrong" side of the road...not to her it wasn't!.

Along the same lines...guests from Great Britian last week just could not BELIEVE the lack of train service here, she just went on and on at breakfast

Didn't the British get voted the worst tourists in the world recently?
RIki
.

The Brits usually do ok by us, they are typically very interested in our history and as we are a historical site they usually love it. This particular set seemed to be suffering under the delusion the entire time they were here that we were a restaurant...when they called when they were already ONE HOUR late for check-in, she asked to make a dinner reservation. Then, the first morning Her Majesty sat down and pronounced "I believe I'll have two soft boiled eggs and toast this morning." Luckily I wasn't even out there, DH just simply said, "No, today we're serving quiche and muffins" and walked away. Blech. They were difficult the entire time they were here, nothing was good enough.
.

I never understand the guests who think breakfast is 'to order'. There is nothing anywhere on my site or in emails that would lead anyone to believe I am going to be taking orders for breakfast.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

And so...after he flipped through the total of 4 pages (that is two front and back) declared he enjoyed this small town paper of yesterday's news.
Their entire trip is blue highways off the beaten path road trip. He said his major city paper is the same as every major city paper - all national and world news, nothing local. Our local paper is ONLY local news so he thought it was great to read everything that was going on in this community.
I am keen on quirky characters - like he with his wild fuzzy white hair.

 

[Country Girl]

The first thing I do when traveling is to try to find a local newspaper to see what's going on in that town or city. It breaks my heart to think of all the newspapers that are going out of business, Even the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post are in trouble! (I think they all may be owned by the same company.) My children all grew up reading the newspaper every day. Now, they read it online. I can't imagine sitting down to breakfast, opening my laptop and reading the newspaper online. But, that's how it's done now, so although readership is up, sales are down. In Harvard Square there is a wonderful newspaper/magazine stand, Out of Town News, that has been open for over 50 years but will be closing this year unless something major changes to keep it open. Personally, we have three newspapers delivered here; the Boston Globe, a local newpaper, and our small town weekly paper. I love them all. At the beginning of the year when we went over our budget we decided to stop all three papers. That lasted two days. My husband and I couldn't stand to be without them and the guests love them too. But, they are getting smaller and smaller...

 

[Morticia]

The first thing I do when traveling is to try to find a local newspaper to see what's going on in that town or city. It breaks my heart to think of all the newspapers that are going out of business, Even the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Washington Post are in trouble! (I think they all may be owned by the same company.) My children all grew up reading the newspaper every day. Now, they read it online. I can't imagine sitting down to breakfast, opening my laptop and reading the newspaper online. But, that's how it's done now, so although readership is up, sales are down. In Harvard Square there is a wonderful newspaper/magazine stand, Out of Town News, that has been open for over 50 years but will be closing this year unless something major changes to keep it open. Personally, we have three newspapers delivered here; the Boston Globe, a local newpaper, and our small town weekly paper. I love them all. At the beginning of the year when we went over our budget we decided to stop all three papers. That lasted two days. My husband and I couldn't stand to be without them and the guests love them too. But, they are getting smaller and smaller....

I would say that 75% of our guests grab the paper as soon as they see it. Almost 100% of them are 'older'. We have the 'big city' paper and a couple of local papers as well. Some guests want the Boston Globe and the NYT, but I can't afford to carry those papers everyday. (NYT is $5 just for Sunday!)

 

[Copperhead]

We only get our local small town paper after doing away with area big town paper this winter. It was really not that expensive but it just sat there 95% of the time never touched not even by us...we are some of those that get most of our big news from online or cable news networks. By the time the paper is delivered most of it is old news, having been covered in various ways depending on who is reporting. Now I loved the paper (any of them) when journalists wrote providing the facts without adding their opinions leaving that to the editorial page(s), now it seems that almost every article should be on the editorial page...well as you can tell this is a VERY big pet peve of mine, Sorry for the ramble

We do get some (small in number) guests that will pick up the local paper, ours is about 16 pages, with lots of pictures of locals attending events. Even these small town papers though have developed websites with much of news on them. When my Dad was staying with us for a few months (500 miles from home) I introduced him to the internet by showing him his hometown paper online. He read it every day and had never touched a PC before but by the time he left he was quite good at getting around on that site. If it were not for the large amount of advertising NONE would be in business today.
One of our son's professors required the students to take a subscription to the Wall Street Journal for the class. Thank goodness they have a student rate or he would have needed to take out a loan to have it delivered each day otherwise. I am sure much of the cost is for delivery....with no 'WSJ delivery boy' in our area, the paper (current day) is delivered by our mail carrier each day. Now this paper IS being read by our guests....but sorry WSJ, I can't afford to keep this one coming once his semester is over..